1. Field
The present invention generally relates to a chin support device for a musical instrument, and specifically, to a chin support for a user of violin and viola.
2. Prior Art
Violinists and violists began using devices that can be called chin supports at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The first chin supports were hardly more than blocks of wood. Over time craftsman began making chin supports that were increasingly more sophisticated and that began to take on the curved shape of most chin supports today. The current general chin support design has been in use at the latest since the late nineteenth century, and has remained essentially unchanged since. The most commonly used chin support of today is not capable of any customization as determined by the player. The large variety of neck lengths, chin shapes, and playing styles of violinists and violists far surpasses the efficacy of the “one-size-fits-all” chin supports of today to satisfactorily address each players needs.
Current violin and viola technique dictates that the player positions the violin or viola (hereafter: “instrument”) on the left side of the body between the chin or jaw and the collarbone. Chin supports are commonly used by violinists and violists (hereafter: “players”) to help hold the instrument and increase comfort while playing. Chin supports should accomplish this task in one primary way: ideally the chin support fills in the gap between the top of the instrument (as it rests upon the collarbone in playing position) and the chin. By filling in this gap, chin supports provide the player with a means to stabilize the instrument while in playing position. Other aspects of chin support-to-jaw fit add or subtract to the players sense of security. If the chin support follows the contour of the players jaw, allows the player to angle the violin towards the body how they wish, and allows the player to choose how to position the angle of their head according to their needs, then the chin support is performing its function well. In reality very few players would answer positively to all of these criteria for their current chin support. In most cases, players learn to deal with the adverse effects that can result from the absence of any or all of these ideal functions the chin support should perform. Currently available chin support designs fall seriously short of accommodating all players. Only players who have necks of short to moderate length can find chin supports that will adequately fill in the gap between the top of the instrument and their jaw, and none allow the player further useable customization.
Rudimentary devices are known in the art to address making some adjustment in chin supports for instruments. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,204,642 to Becker describes a raiseable and tiltable chin support, but the lateral position, rotational angle, and yaw angle cannot be changed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,259 to Wolf describes a chin support that can “pivot” with the movements of the players head, and that can conform to the shape of the players chin, but the height, yaw angle, tilt, and lateral position cannot be adjusted. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,566 to Boles and U.S. Pat. No. 2,486,646 to Haiko both show the ability to raise the chin support, and Haiko's shows the ability to adjust lateral position, but neither offers the ability to adjust tilt, rotation, and yaw angle. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,576,274 B1 to Frisch shows the ability to customize fit-to-chin as well as height, tilt, and yaw angle, but lateral position and rotation cannot be practically addressed. Additionally, the Frisch model does not allow further adjustment once the initial adjustment is accomplished, limiting the player in the future to the initial set-up.
Thus several advantages of the various embodiments of my chin support are to provide players with a chin support that provides adjustment along one or more of the three axes (i.e. x, y, z). Other advantages of one or more aspects are to provide players with a chin support that players can customize to their individual body type. By doing so this chin support can help alleviate most of the adverse health concerns many players struggle with while playing their instrument. These and other advantages of one or more aspects will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and accompanying drawings.